While a majority of the 330 respondents who responded to an online feedback form agreed with a proposal to repurpose the course and its clubhouse and lake, the council’s Parks and Sustainability Committee voted June 7 to move in a different direction. The committee approved an ordinance, sponsored by Democratic District 14 Council Member Cindi Fowler, that would require the city to try — again — to find a third-party company or nonprofit to manage the golf course. Fowler says she wanted to preserve the course because she feels it serves a niche purpose within Louisville’s golfing community.
A group of Louisville (Ky.) Metro Council members is backing away from a plan to reintegrate the Cherokee Golf Course in the Highlands neighborhood into the surrounding park, WFPL reported.
In April, Louisville Parks and Recreation Department officials held two public meetings on the future of the golf course and solicited responses to an online feedback form. While a majority of the 330 respondents agreed with a proposal to repurpose the course and its clubhouse and lake, the council’s Parks and Sustainability Committee voted June 7 to move in a different direction, WFPL reported.
The seven-member committee approved an ordinance, sponsored by Democratic District 14 Council Member Cindi Fowler, that would require the city to try — again — to find a third-party company or nonprofit to manage the golf course, WFPL reported. A previous request for proposals in 2019 received no responses aside from the plan to repurpose the land.
At the June 7 meeting, Fowler said she was opposed to that approach and wanted to preserve the city of Louisville’s oldest municipal golf course, WFPL reported. She said the Cherokee course also serves a niche purpose within Louisville’s golfing community.
“The students are using it, the senior citizens are using it to teach their grandkids how to play golf,” she said. “It’s not the same as the other courses because of how it’s laid out. I just think that it should have the opportunity to be opened up to the bid process.”
The committee approved Fowler’s ordinance in a 6-1 vote, WFPL reported. The full Metro Council will take a final vote on whether to reissue the request for proposals June 9.
Members of the public shared their thoughts on the repurposing proposal at a meeting at the golf course on April 25.
Following the public engagement process in April, the Louisville Parks and Recreation Department recommended Metro Council accept a 2019 proposal from the Olmsted Parks Conservancy to merge the course back into Cherokee Park, WFPL reported. The proposal included plans for a boathouse on Willow Pond and turning the clubhouse into a restaurant and patio.
District 8 Council Member Cassie Chambers Armstrong, a Democrat who represents the Highlands, submitted a resolution on June 6 to allow the city to begin talks with the Conservancy, WFPL reported. The resolution was cosponsored by Council President David James, who represents District 6, and District 9 Council Member Bill Hollander.
They issued a joint statement after the June 7 vote saying they were withdrawing that resolution because the vote made it clear that Metro Council did not support converting the golf course at this time, WFPL reported.
“We respect that decision,” the joint statement said. “We are concerned that moving forward with our resolution to approve Metro Parks’ request to repurpose the golf course before the [request for proposals] is complete could further complicate the process and produce inconsistent outcomes.”
Supporters of repurposing the golf course argued that it was underutilized and a drain on Louisville’s municipal golf system, which shares profits and losses across courses, WFPL reported. Financial statements show the Cherokee course had lost money for nine of the last 10 years. The course also needs about $1.1 million in deferred maintenance, according to engineering estimates.
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